MSF Denies Rescue Operations In Mediterranean Sea Encourage Migrants To Attempt Crossing

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) stands firmly against the opinion that running search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea acts as a "pull factor" that encourages migrants and refugees to attempt the dangerous journey to Europe, Duccio Staderini, the organization's search and rescue representative, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2021) Doctors Without Borders (MSF) stands firmly against the opinion that running search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea acts as a "pull factor" that encourages migrants and refugees to attempt the dangerous journey to Europe, Duccio Staderini, the organization's search and rescue representative, told Sputnik.

"We are criticized because we are accused of being a pull factor, in terms of our rescue ships and by carrying out search and rescue in the Central Mediterranean, but we are absolutely convinced that this is not true. And when you look at the data, the numbers are not increasing when we are at sea or decreasing when we are not at sea," Staderini said.

The Italian government has long criticized NGOs for conducting search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, accusing them of encouraging migrants and asylum seekers to make the journey.

Several NGO vessels, including MSF's Geo Barents ship, are currently in administrative detention following examinations by Italian officials.

Additionally, the crew of any ship that completes a rescue operation in the Central Mediterranean at the present time, such as SOS Mediterranee's Ocean Viking, is subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine period upon their arrival at an Italian port.

"Currently there is no ship able to do search and rescue in the Central Mediterranean because most of the ships are either in detention for administrative reasons, or in quarantine for reasons related to COVID prevention, and the flows are still undergoing because people, if they take the risk to cross on an unseaworthy boat, do it regardless of the search and rescue capacity," Staderini said.

Despite the limitations placed on the operation of NGO vessels, migrants and refugees are continuing to attempt to cross into Europe, with reports of shipwrecks and deaths coming through almost every day, Staderini remarked.

"As we've seen in the last few weeks, we have information almost every day about shipwrecks and loss of lives, and this trend is worryingly increasing," MSF's search and rescue representative said.

MSF's Geo Barents vessel was detained by the Italian authorities on July 2. Inspectors said that they had identified 22 deficiencies with the vessel.

The International Organization for Migration announced last month that 741 migrants and refugees died while attempting to travel the Central Mediterranean route in the first six months of 2021, more than double the number of deaths for the same period last year.